Green living blog + Foraging | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog+lifeandstyle/foraging
Indexen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2016Fri, 09 Dec 2016 18:15:54 GMT2016-12-09T18:15:54Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2016The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Capturing nature's harvest for seasons to come | Fergus Drennanhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2010/sep/03/natures-harvest-photography
Photography adds another dimension to wild food foraging – not just for identification purposes but as an art form<br /><br />• Send your photos of nature's harvest to our <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/guardiangreenshoots/" title="">Green shoots Flickr group</a><br /><p>There are as many reason for the current resurgent rise in enthusiasm for all things wild food and foraging-related as there are wild foods themselves – from belt tightening austerity measures, to a desire to source local, sustainable food without the organic price tag and creativity in the kitchen. Some people choose to forage rather than shop in order to connect with seasonal rhythms instead of the discordant economic and clock-watching dictates of a mundane working week.</p><p>As a full-time forager – someone with an all-encompassing hobby that I sometimes try to pass off as work – all of the above, as well as deep-seated philosophical, psychological and spiritual reasons, have led me to an all-embracing commitment to wild food. It is a commitment that seeks to engage with – indeed even capture in some small way – the verdant, fleeting and ephemeral delights that nature exhibits.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2010/sep/03/natures-harvest-photography">Continue reading...</a>Ethical and green livingEnvironmentFoodPlantsScienceFood & drinkLife and stylePhotographyForagingFri, 03 Sep 2010 11:31:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2010/sep/03/natures-harvest-photographyPhotograph: Kathy deWitt/Alamy/AlamySome successful mushroom-pickers. Photograph: Kathy deWitt/AlamyPhotograph: Kathy deWitt/Alamy/AlamySome successful mushroom-pickers. Photograph: Kathy deWitt/AlamyFergus Drennan2010-09-03T11:31:49ZUrban foraging: inconvenience food that adds a little something to any recipehttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/may/21/food-foraging-uk
With more than 400 edible wild plants in the UK, the problem is identifying which ones to pick. <strong>Anne Watson </strong>grasps the nettle<p>Earlier this year,<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/apr/16/plastic-free-lent" title=""> I gave up consuming plastic for Lent</a> in an effort to reduce the amount of unnecessary packaging I have to throw away every day. Having cut out plastic I was interested to see if I could go further and cut out packaging altogether.</p><p>Growing your own vegetables is the latest thing with everyone from the First Lady to the London mayor getting behind it. But we don't all have <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/mar/23/whitehouse-vegetable-garden-obama-allotment" title="">a White House lawn to rip up and cultivate our dinner</a>. With only a small roof terrace for outside space, I will need to go further afield for my supper.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/may/21/food-foraging-uk">Continue reading...</a>Ethical and green livingEnvironmentFoodCarbon footprintsGreenhouse gas emissionsForagingThu, 21 May 2009 15:58:14 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/may/21/food-foraging-ukPhotograph: Sanjida O'ConnellNettles are a perfect food for wild foraging. Photograph: Sanjida O'ConnellPhotograph: Sanjida O'ConnellNettles are a perfect food for wild foraging. Photograph: Sanjida O'ConnellAnne Watson2009-05-21T15:58:14ZEthical dilemma: Is foraging too much of a good thing?https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/may/10/ethical-living-food
It may be eating as nature intended, but there are legal and ethical limits to raiding your local wild larder, says Lucy Siegle<p>A few weekends ago the "self-provisioners" were out in my local park, sniffing the air, tracking the scent to a wooded dell and falling on their quarry - wild garlic - with scissors and woven baskets. These foragers were a few hundred metres from a Tesco Metro, but that's not the point - there's a sense of liberation in liberating your own food. Hedgerow bounty is unpackaged, unadulterated by food production processes, ie chlorine baths (although remain mindful of leptospirosis, a bacterial infection spread through animal urine), it's as local as you can get, and it saves you money. In fact, it disproves the maxim "there's no such thing as a free lunch". </p><p>In addition, we now have a pantheon of master foragers to dispense advice - from professional ecologists who lead Cornish foraging weekends (<a href="http://www.fathen.org">fathen.org</a>) and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Edible Seashore trips (<a href="http://www.rivercottage.net">rivercottage.net</a>) to Fergus Drennan (<a href="http://www.wildmanwildfood.com">wildmanwildfood.com</a>), who aims to spend a year living on a 100 per cent foraged diet, starting on 22 June. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/may/10/ethical-living-food">Continue reading...</a>Ethical and green livingFoodEnvironmentForagingSat, 09 May 2009 23:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/may/10/ethical-living-foodLucy Siegle2009-05-09T23:01:00ZForaging for dandelions - and what dishes to make with themhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/apr/07/dandelions-foraging-salads-spring-seasonal-food-recipe
Tasty and versatile, these common or garden plants are perfect for a green salad or the crowning glory of a vegetarian risotto<p>I have a love-hate relationship with dandelions. Their fat, gloriously yellow heads are a sunny delight spread across the fields and their tenacity – flowering from February through to November – means they welcome in the colder, grimmer months. The delicate orbs of their seed heads are a harbinger of first frosts, the smell of autumnal smoke, spider silk drifting through the air – and goldfinches love them. </p><p>But seeing the flat rosettes of their leaves in the vegetable patch is hugely irritating. They have deep taproots that snap as you dig them up and, like a vegetal version of a horror flick, they regenerate from a fragment left in the soil. All the better to try and eat the little blighters.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/apr/07/dandelions-foraging-salads-spring-seasonal-food-recipe">Continue reading...</a>FoodEnvironmentForagingTue, 07 Apr 2009 10:44:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/apr/07/dandelions-foraging-salads-spring-seasonal-food-recipePhotograph: Sanjida O'ConnellThe wild dandelion. Photograph: Sanjida O'ConnellPhotograph: Sanjida O'ConnellThe wild dandelion. Photograph: Sanjida O'ConnellSanjida O'Connell2009-04-07T10:44:19ZSanjida O'Connell on foraging for wild garlichttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/mar/23/foraging-wild-garlic-recipe-carbon-footprint-food-miles
Our latest blog post on <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/mar/09/nettles-soup-foraging-wild-free">beating food prices by foraging</a> homes in on wild garlic — and how to make delicious garlic bread with it<p>The other day at a British farmer's market I saw a small, sad heap of wilted green leaves for sale. They turned out to be wild garlic from France. This is a bit like carrying coal to Newcastle – we have fantastic wild garlic of our own.</p><p>Wild garlic (also known as ramsons) is one of the first signs of spring, the leaves poking through the soil in brilliant green blades as early as mid-January. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/mar/23/foraging-wild-garlic-recipe-carbon-footprint-food-miles">Continue reading...</a>FoodEnvironmentCarbon footprintsEthical and green livingGreenhouse gas emissionsForagingMon, 23 Mar 2009 11:29:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/mar/23/foraging-wild-garlic-recipe-carbon-footprint-food-milesPhotograph: Sanjida O'ConnellJust wild about garlic bread. Photograph: Sanjida O'ConnellPhotograph: Sanjida O'ConnellJust wild about garlic bread. Photograph: Sanjida O'ConnellSanjida O'Connell2009-03-23T11:29:12ZSanjida O'Connell on foraging and nettle souphttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/mar/09/nettles-soup-foraging-wild-free
The cost of food has rocketed so could foraging take the sting out of paying for our weekly groceries?<p>The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/feb/26/spring-photos-nikon-competition-flickr">first signs of spring</a> are here, including the <a href="http://www.nettles.org.uk/">nettles</a> poking up through last year's dead brambles. These pea shoot green leaves are at exactly the right stage for harvesting. </p><p>As a country, we are not short of nettles. This ubiquitous weed can be found in fields and country lanes as well as cycle paths and alongside city pavements. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/mar/09/nettles-soup-foraging-wild-free">Continue reading...</a>FoodEnvironmentEthical and green livingFood & drinkForagingTue, 10 Mar 2009 09:14:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/mar/09/nettles-soup-foraging-wild-freePhotograph: Sanjida O'ConnellNettles are a perfect food for wild foraging. Photograph: Sanjida O'ConnellPhotograph: Sanjida O'ConnellNettles are a perfect food for wild foraging. Photograph: Sanjida O'ConnellSanjida O'Connell2009-03-10T09:14:00Z